Maps can be an excellent means of visually representing large amounts of data and help us to interpret it in new ways. The identification of several hundred ‘new’ makers since the last printed edition of Boalch in 1995 means that we now have a stronger, albeit still incomplete, data set to show the distribution of historical keyboard instrument makers across Europe. However, most studies have associated weaknesses and this collection of maps, showing harpsichord and clavichord makers according to their place of work, is no exception.

State boundaries have changed, new states created and place names updated, and of course many makers moved location. This is particularly true for makers who were double-handed and combined the art of organ building with that of harpsichord and/or clavichord making. We have chosen to use modern state boundaries and place names, and are unable to display the many temporal variations. Thus, makers such as Friederich Jungklaus (fl.1751) and Jürgen Hinrischen Angel (fl.1759–1810), who both worked in the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway, are here recorded in the figures for Germany; there is strong evidence that Girolamo Zenti (c1609/11–67) worked in Rome, London and Stockholm, as well as Paris, but he is recorded in the total for Rome only.

It should also be stressed that the number of makers given for each urban centre should be taken as an approximation rather than an exact figure. For reasons of scale and to make use of proportional-sized circles, a few towns have been combined, for example Hamburg and Altona, Grossbreitenbach and Gehren, Augsburg and Friedberg, Florence, Prato, Empoli and Pistoia. Makers whose hometown have not been identified are excluded, and while journeymen contribute to the numbers of makers in Stockholm, Rome and London, elsewhere our limited knowledge of workshop structures means they generally don’t. Mostly hidden from the historical record, women, too, are underrepresented.

Nevertheless, it is hoped that this selection of maps gives an overall impression for the distribution of stringed keyboard instrument makers in Europe during the period c1440–1925. They show makers were clearly concentrated in urban centres, particularly those where royal families were seated, state legislatures and banking houses established, since it was the wealthiest strata of society – royalty, politicians, lawyers, bankers and merchants – who were the principal patrons of keyboard instrument makers.

A list of makers associated with a particular city may be obtained by typing a place name into BMO's Menu > Search > Maker or Location / City. Please note, the resulting list will only be an approximation of  numbers and users should also consult individual biographies for more nuanced readings.